I spent one night at the house of Amirul Mo'mineen Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and I saw him coming and going from the house frequently looking at the sky. Then he entered a normal entrance and said (to me): "Are you awake or asleep?" I said: "I am awake, watching you since nightfall, seeing what you do." He said: "O Nawf, blessed are those who are detached from this world, inclined to the next one. They have adopted the earth of Allah as a carpet, the dust He created as a cushion, His Book as the under cover, and supplications to Him as the outer cover, and His water as the delicate scent. They relinquish and renounce this world, the way Jesus, peace upon him, did.

Surely, Allah revealed to Jesus: 'O, Jesus, it is (obligatory) upon you to follow the path of the predecessors, so that you join the group of the Prophets. O, brothers of the warners, tell your people not to enter any of my houses except with pure hearts, clean hands and humbled eyes. For verily, I do not hear the prayers of a supplicant who has usurped the right of any of my servants, nor do I answer the prayers of the one who owes me an unfulfilled duty.'

O Nawf, if you can avoid to be a monitor of the people, or a poet, or a drummer or a lute player, then do so. For Prophet Dawood, peace be upon him, came out in one of the nights, looked at various parts of the sky and then said: By the Sustainer of Dawood, this is the blessed hour during which if a Muslim servant succeeded to beseech Allah to grant him good, He would definitely grant it to him, except if he were a monitor of the people, or a poet, or a drummer or a lute player."

2. Ascetic habits of Ali (AS)

He said: Abul Hasan Ali b. Bilal al-Malhabi reported to me from Abdullah b. Rashid al-Isfehani, who reported from Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Thaqafi, who reported from Ahmad b. Shimr, who reported from Abdullah b. Maymoon al-Makki, the client of Banu Makhzoon, from Ja'far al-Sadiq b. Muhammad al-Baqir, peace be upon them, from his father who said:

Once, Amirul Mo'mineen Ali b. Abi Talib peace be upon him, was offered a sweet dish called Khubais (mixture of dates, raisins and ghee), but he refused to eat it. They said: "Do you consider it forbidden?" He said, "No, but I fear that my heart may become so desirous of it, that I am forced to come out in its quest." Then he recited the verse:

I heard Abu Ubaidullah, the client of al-Abbas reporting to Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Ali, peace be upon him, saying: I heard Abu Saeed al-Khudari say: The last sermon addressed by the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, was the one addressed to us during the illness in which he died. He came out leaning upon Ali b. Abi Talib peace be upon him, and his maid Maymoonah. He sat on the pulpit and said: "O people! I am leaving behind among you two weighty things." Then he remained silent. A man stood up and said: "O messenger of Allah! What are these two weighty things?" The Prophet was upset till his face turned red and then it subsided. He said: "I did not mention them except with an intention to inform you, but you were in a haste, so I could not. It is a medium whose one end is with Allah, and the other end is in your hands, with whom you will do such a such thing. Be it known; they are the Qur'an and the smaller weighty thing, my Ahlul Bait."

Then he said: "By Allah, I am saying this to you while I pin more hope on the unborn progeny of the infidels than upon most of you." And then he said: "By Allah, whoever loves them, Allah will bless them with a light on the Day of Judgement, till they arrive near me at the Pool. And whoever hates them, Allah will keep them away from Him on the Day of Judgement." Abu Ja'far said: "Surely, Abu Ubaidullah has brought to us that of which he is aware."

4. Salman's young friend overawed with the fear of divine chastisement

Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him said: "Once, Salman - may Allah be pleased with him, passed by the iron mongers of Kufa and he saw a young man who had fainted and people had gathered around him. They told him: "O Abu Abdillah, this young man has had a fit, perhaps you would come to recite something in his ears." He said: Salman came closer to the youth, and when the young man saw Salman, he gained consciousness and said: "I do not suffer from what these people think! The fact is that when I passed by those iron mongers and I saw them strike with the sledgehammers, I remembered what Allah, Most High, says (in the Qur'an): 'And for them awaits hooked iron lashes' (al-Haj:V21). Overawed with the fear of divine chastisement, I lost my senses."

Salman took him as his brother, and in his heart, entered the sweetness of affection for the young man, for the sake of Allah. They remained together; till one day the young man fell ill. Salman visited him and sat near his head, while the young man was about to die. So he (Salman) said: "O angel of Death, be tender with my brother." He (the angel) said: "O, Abu Abdillah, I am tender with all the faithfuls."

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "Whoever is carefully concerned about (praying at) the exact hours of the daily prayers and about the rising and the setting (hours) of the sun, I guarantee for him peace at the time of death, relieved of all the griefs and anxieties, and salvation from the hell fire. Sometimes back, we were minding the camels, now we mind the sun."

Abu Abdillah peace be upon him, said: "Be it known to you that Allah hates a person who is unsteady and fickle. Never slip away from the truth and its partisans. Whoever, rules and oppresses with the aid of untruth, and his people shall perish, and shall lose (all that he may have gained from) this world, and leave the world low and humbled."